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NOTE:
As with all of my other pages of info. please do not copy this info. (text or pictures) unless you obtain permission first. I usually have no problem with you using the info on your website, if you credit me and provide a link back to my website. I will not tolerate plagerism or stealing of any kind!
I am dedicating this entire page to discuss the charcoal color in SBT bengals. The reason I am doing so is because out of all of the colors that bengals come in, I probably like this color the most. Another big reason is because I have produced so many of them here at my cattery that I have had the chance to study them and I feel like I know more about them than most. If you would like to ask questions regarding the info. on this page or have anything to contribute, please feel free to email me and we can discuss it.
I am by no means saying that I know everything about this subject but I have studied, and bred for this specific color for quite a number of years. I continue to conduct test breedings and make note of the results.
I welcome any comments from anyone who has sufficient knowledge about the subject to add anything that might help us better understand this color (I will of course credit you with a text credit). What I put on this page, are mainly my own observations and theories on the subject, so my thinking may change from time to time, especially if more breeders become involved with breeding charcoals and more information becomes available.
Even though charcoal brown is an accepted color because it falls under the brown category, my goal is to eventually get the standard changed to include all of the brown colors as desirable instead of just a high degree of roufesing. One of the main reasons why is because I know that this color contributes greatly to my breeding program and can contribute greatly to other programs (more about that later) I also know that many charcoals are early generation cats, so being that it occurs naturally, it should be included in the standard.
(update 3/25/08 I believe the standard has been changed and it no longer states that a high degreee of roufesing is preferred! This is wonderful news for our charcoal and cool colored bengals!)
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From my observations and test breedings I have found that the charcoal coloration can be inherited along with any other color bengal. To date, there are charcoal browns, charcoal silvers, and charcoal snows.
The fact that charcoal coloration can be inherited along with other colors besides just being an unroufesd brown has me convinced it is an entirely seperate gene or set of genes than just an unroufesed brown/black.
I would love to try and test breed to get some charcoal blues, etc. to see if the charcoal coloration can be inherited along with these other colors as well.
(update 1/1/10 - There is a blue that I think has a strong possibility of being a charcoal. He has a cape and is a darker blue color. He was genetic tested and is Aa so the possibility that he is a charcoal is strong. He will be bred and results will be published later)
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Please be aware that at this time, "charcoal" is not really a seperate color designation, rather it is a description. Although through breeding, I am convinced that it is a seperate gene that the brown/black gene and should be in it's own color class.
At this time however, most breeders use it to describe a brown cat that is at the very end of the color spectrum. It is on the opposite side of the spectrum of very red or orange cats that are highly roufesd. Instead, the charcoal brown has very little to no roufesing.
In the middle of the spectrum would be other colors of brown like mohogany, golden, tawney, etc. (see color chart below)
note: this color chart is not meant to show all of the brown bengal colors, rather it is just used to show how charcoal brown and a roufesed brown are at the opposite ends of the color spectrum).
CHARCOAL BROWN
Charcoal browns, at maturity, will have jet black markings against a silvery grey background. Sometimes it takes awhile for the background color to come in but they are all born with the jet back markings (more on that later).
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| charcoal brown (front) roufesd brown (back) |
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Charcoal and the ALC
It has been reported that there is a subspecies of charcoal colored ALC's. I know there are also a great number of charcoal colored F1's that are born. This may give us a clue to what causes the charcoal color within the bengal breed. Is it another mutation that came from the ALC? Perhaps. There is still a lot that is unknown about ALC genetics. Wild genes work differently. For an example, with the bengal, melanistic is recessive. With the geoffroys cat, melanistic is dominant.
(if anyone can provide a picture of a charcoal colored ALC if would be greatly appreciated)
For more genetic info about charcoal, see the bottom of this page under the subheading "charcoal and the non-aguoti link"
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Back Stripe/Cape or "Zorro Markings"
I have noticed that most charcoal (spotted) bengals have a back stripe (or some breeders call it a "cape"). In my opinion, all true charcoal spotted bengals should have this back stripe at one point in their lives. Some bloodlines seem to produce wider back stripes than other lines though.
The stripe is a very thick, black line running all the way down the back from the shoulders to the base of the tail. I'm not sure why this occurs so often but it may be that somehow the charcoal color is inherited as a pattern (thus lending some weight to my belief on the non-agouti gene is in a large way responsible for charcoal color, since the agouti gene has to do with the way a pattern is seen. Please see the subheading at the bottom of this page) ,thus creating the back stripe as part of the pattern.
Or perhaps it is as simple as this: being that the area along the back is usually naturally darker in most bengal cats (even non-charcoal bengals), when combined with the dark charcoal gene/genes, it's makes this area even darker thus creating the back stripe.
Below are some pictures of different charcoal cats with the back stripe.
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CHARCOAL MARBLES
To date, I have only seen a few marble pattern bengals that I consider true charcoals. Even though I have produced many unroufesed marble bengals here, I would consider none of them to be true charcoal marble, with the exeption of the charcoal snow marble that is shown on my "snows" page.
Below is another picture of a true charcoal marble kitten.
(photos of the kitten below provided by Misty of Kajari Bengals)
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| click for larger (photo courtesy of Kajari Bengals) |
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| charcoal silver marble kitten -clcik pic for larger |
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Two Different Kinds
I have also noticed through breeding charcoals that there has been two different types of charcoal browns born here (and in other catteries too now that more people are breeding for charcoals). Although this coloring affects silvers too, the following information is referring to charcoal brown cats.
The first is born with jet black markings and a almost white background color. For descriptive purposes, I'll call this type of charcoal "light charcoal"
From just looking at them they look very much like a dark marked silver. It is almost impossible to tell them apart from a silver. There are two ways to tell is the kitten is a silver or if it is a charcoal brown.
1.)If it is not a silver it will not have a white undercoat (fur right next to the skin).
2.)If neither of the parents are a silver, the kitten cannot be a silver.
Later on when the cat matures, it takes on that characteristic silvery grey background color.
Below are picture examples of "light charcoal" browns that look silver at birth or at a young age.
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The second type of brown charcoal is born very, very dark. The background color is as dark as or almost as dark as the markings. For descriptive purposes, I'll call this 'dark charcoal"
This type
of cat is not a melanistic because melanistics are entirely black, even on the feet, face and belly. In contrast, the black charcoal, although predominately black, will still have light color on the face, feet and belly. (see picture examples below)
Sometimes the background will gradually lighten and take on that characteristic silvery grey background color, but sometimes it won't and the cat will stay predominately black at maturity. (see picture examples below)
To date, I know that both browns and silvers can either be a "light charcoal or a "dark charcoal" but the pictures below are all of charcoal browns.
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Charcoal Glitter
Almost all the charcoals I have produced here have been glittered. As a matter of fact, many of them have been extremely glittered. The charcoal brown will not have the golden type of glitter, rather the color of the glitter looks like little strands a very thin sterling silver or mercury. I have noticed this glitter color looks different from the "crystalline" type of glitter found on some snows and silvers. Mostly, the glitter can be found on or in among the black fur and not so much on the background fur (unless it's there but less detectable against the lighter background color). I have been able to actually pluck out strands of glittered fur. The glitter seems to reach the entire length of the hair shaft, unlike "Mica" glitter, which only affects the very tip of the hair. It is also unlike "satin" glitter, because although satin glitter reaches down the entire hair shaft, satin glitter seems to have more of a glossy look rather then a silvery metallic look. Two different types of glitter genes have been identified in bengals (Satin and Mica). Weather or not this metallic glitter is the result of one of these genes, or perhaps both of these gene combined, or another glitter gene entirely, I do not know. I do know that it looks different than any of my other non-charcoal bengals who exibit glitter (both satin and mica glitter).
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Charcoal Tarnish
Since charcoal brown are considered brown, no such thing as tarnish technically exists on the charcoal bengal. However, I have noticed that a number of brown charcoals do get a "tarnished" look on the face, feet, and ears. Many times it develops later, like how a silver bengal would develop tarnish.
A charcoal brown that has this warm color is not to be confused with a "cool brown" color of cat. A non-charcoal, "cool brown" will develop warm color (but not as warm as most other browns) in the background of the coat. A charcoal brown will usually not develop any roufesing in the background of the coat except in the "tarnish" areas described above.
A charcoal brown can also get a tarnished look on the black markings where, like the melanistic, too much sunlight can turn some the black part of the coat a brownish to dark purplish color. As soon as the cat is restricted from access to sunlight, the jet black color returns. Or sometimes as a result of nutritional deficiences the color can also fade. Certain times of the year the coat can fade out on individual cats as well.
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"Charcoal Brown" VS. "Cool Brown"
There is not as much known about charcoal brown as there is about other colors of brown at this time. Since this is the case, a great number of bengal breeders are mis-identifying cool brown colored cats as charcoal brown. Looking for the silvery grey background coat (at maturity) with no warm background color can help them to identify a charcoal apart from a cool brown with very little roufesing. I have experianced very cool brown cats and charcoal brown cats born in the same litter. Sometimes it takes an experianced eye to tell them apart, much like it takes an experianced eye to tell silvers and snows apart if both are born in the same litter, or to tell the different kinds of snows apart, if born in the same litter or compared side by side.
Below are some pictures of charcoal browns and non-charcoal, "cool brown" colors of cats and kittens. See if you can figure out which is which. Click on the picture to make it larger and for the answers.
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CHARCOAL SILVERS:
At this time, charcoal silver is just another variety of the regular silver color. On the registration papers a charcoal silver would be registered as just 'silver' (just as a charcoal brown would be registered as "brown" and not "charcoal or "charcoal brown" ). As brought out before, I am quite convinced that charcoal should have it's own color designation since it can be inherited along with any other bengal color.
Sometimes silvers are born that are very dark, almost black, just like how a "dark charcoal brown" is born( *see my info on this page about "dark charcoals" and "light charcoals"). Some people might mistake them as a silver smoke which is a melanistic that also carries the silver gene. " Charcoal silvers are not silver smoke though.
At first these kittens will have a dark body but you can clearly see the white markings on the face, that's how you can tell the difference between them and a silver smoke. A silver smoke will have the "smokescreen" over the entire body, even the face.
Dark charcoal silvers go through an amazing transformation. The background color starts to lighten until a pattern is revealed. Charcoal silvers end up with a jet black pattern and a silver to white background coat. The hair near the skin will still be pure white.
Take a look at the pictures below to see how a charcoal silver kitten transforms in color. It is interesting to note that most charcoal browns transform colors in much the same way, most are also born with very dark fur over much of the body except the face (for more info on that see the 'dark charcoal" info on this page").
Below are some pictures of charcoal silvers and how they transform in color.
Please note that not all charcoal silvers develop like this. Some have the adult coloring from birth. An example would be my stud boy "Arty". He never had a smokescreen type of coat.
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| 3 days old (click pic for larger) |
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| same kitten at 15 days old |
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| same kitten (Cozy Counrty Kairu) as an adult |
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CHARCOAL SNOWS
Here at Pocket Leopards we are producing snows that are charcoal in color. They have the same characteristic as charcoal browns and the charcoal silvers. The only difference is that they are snow.
We have produced charcoal snows in both seal lynx point and seal mink. The seal lynx points so far have been born white like a normal seal lynx point, but once they mature they mature with a very dark pattern like a charcoal would.
Pictures below of a charcoal snows born here. Notice in some of the pictures how charcaol snows develop. Getting darker patterns as they grow.
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| "Sage" charcoal mink approx. 4 months old |
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| "Sage" charcoal mink approx. 4 months old |
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| Pocket Leopards "Sage" at 5 months (Sage now belongs to Legacie bengals) |
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| Pocket Leopards "Sage" at 5 months (Sage now lives at Legacie Bengals) |
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| Pocket Leopards "Blondie" (charcoal SLP) a few weeks old |
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| Pocket Leopards "Blondie" -charcoal SLP- born 3/29/09 |
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| Pocket leopards "Blondie" 13 weeks old (charcoal SLP) pattern darkening. More pics will be posted as she grows. |
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| Pocket Leopards 'Dreams', charcoal SLP marble at approx 1 week old |
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| Pocket leopards "Dreams" charcoal SLP at approx. 10 wks old |
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| Pocket Leopards "Dreams" charcoal SLP at approx. 1 year old. (Picture taken by Jenna of Naamah Bengals) |
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| Pocket Leopards "Metallica" (charcoal mink) a few days old. |
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| pocket leopards Metallica 13 wks old (charcoal mink) |
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| Charcoal SLP marble (white at birth) along with her melanistic littermate. |
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| same charcoal SLP at a couple weeks old |
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The following information is what I wrote up about what I suspect, what I know for sure, and what I don't know because test breedings have not been done to my knowledge. If you have done some test breedings and can add anything to this, please contact me. I would love to work together with other breeders to further my knowledge on this color by more test breeding. The more people doing the test breedings, the faster we can answer some of these questions to a certainty.
POSSIBILITIES FOR MODE OF INHERITANCE
1.)Polygenic trait
(therefore the Mendel mode of inheritance would not apply and there are no dominant genes, the genes work in a totally different way than simple recessive/dominant.)
2.)Inherited as a pattern instead of merely a color. Like the whited tummy, I believe that charcoal is inherited as a pattern, and this would explain why charcoals have the "back stripe" (or cape). I also know that the agouti locus plays a large role in the charcoal color. All charcoals are Aa. So it is possible that charcoal could have something to do with pattern.
3.)It is possible that the marble pattern can act as some sort of modifier gene, thus eliminating the back stripe.
4.)This is my strongest theory at this time: A modifier or extension of the non-agouti gene.
I also decided to write down what I know for sure, what I am pretty sure about and what I don't know. If any of you have anything to add, or can counter any of this, please do so!
WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE
1.)Non-charcoal can be carriers of charcoal
2.)It only takes one charcoal (or charcoal carrier) parent to produce charcoal offspring
3.)One charcoal parent (or carrier) will not produce all charcoal kittens, in every litter, 100% of the time, when bred to a non-charcoal (or non-carrier).
4.)Neither parent actually has to be a charcoal in order to produce charcoal offspring.
WHAT I'D LIKE TO GENETICALLY TEST FOR:
1.)To test to see if all charcoal colored cats carry for the non-agouti gene (melanistic) (Aa). So far evidence shows that they all do. However I need more data to prove or discount this theory.
(if anyone reading this has a charcoal cat and know for sure if it is/or is not genetically Aa, or would be willing to submit to a genetic
test, please let me know.) * please see updated info below under the "charcoal and non-agouti link" subheading
I already know that non-charcoal cats that "carry" for charcoal do not have to be Aa.
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The non-agouti link to charcoal
So far, all charcoals that I have studied carry for one non-agouti gene (Aa)
All cats who inherit two copies of non-agouti are said to be melanistic (aa) Two copies on the non-agouti gene changes the way the pattern can be seen. The background color is the same as the pattern color and the cat is said to be "self colored". There is still a pattern, but it is hidden by the background color.
However, in charcoals, they only have one non-agouti gene (Aa). Not all cats who are Aa are charcoal, but all charcoals are Aa.
What causes some cats who are Aa to have a charcoal phenotype, but others who are Aa to not have a charcoal phenotype? There are other (still unknown) genes involved, or perhaps another mutation to the Agouti locus.
I also have observed that in all of my breedings that produced charcoal, the non-charcoal or non-carrier parent must carry the non-agouti gene in order to get charcoal offspring out of the mating.
A non-charcoal parent can carry for charcoal and not carry the non-agouti gene. The other parent must carry a non-agouti gene in order for charcoals to be produced from this pairing.
Since charcoal is not simply the non-agouti gene working by itself, not even all melanistic (cats with two copies on non-agouti) can produce charcoals. They can produce them with a charcoal 'carrier', but may not produce them without a 'carrier" to breed them to.
There is a link between non-agouti and charcoal. However, non-agouti is not the end all to this color. There are plenty of cats who carry for non-agouti and they never produce a charcoal. So just merely inheriting a copy of the non-agouti gene will not work in producing charcoal. Not all cats who carry one non-agouti gene are charcoal themselves either, but ALL charcoals are carriers of one non-agouti gene.
How can a cat with only one copy of the non-agouti gene express a form of melanism? That question remains. It could be that the ALC has introduced a new mutation of the agouti locus into the mix. What turns these genes on and off? Why aren't all cats who are Aa phenotypically charcoal? Again, these are questions that remain unanswered. But here is some food for thought. I found the following information on Wikipedia about the Agouti locus:
There is also a theoretical "black modifier" gene, Bm, which in its recessive form, bmbm, causes tabby cats to turn into the colors amber or light amber. This gene could be more appropriately called "agouti modifier" and is probably related to the extension locus (the melanocortin receptor) or its ligands, melanocyte stimulating hormone and agouti signaling protein. This phenomenon was first identified in Norwegian Forest Cats. Other forms of extension mutations have been seen in many breeds (and domestic cats), resulting in unique forms of tabby expression.
I am not suggesting that charcoal is due to the "black modifier" gene itself, but what I am suggesting is that charcoal is some form of modified agouti gene. Very possibly an extension mutation.
More test breedings and genetic testing needs to be done to further see how these genes work. If you are willing to have your charcoal tested to see if they carry the non-agouti gene, please contact me.
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6/27/09
Charcoal Gene Identified?
ALC agouti gene theory
Joshua Dabbs has taken the info and data from my web page, and after much discussion with me, has pieced it together to form a viable theory on charcoal "genes".
(please remember this is just a theory, so we may be off a bit ,or way off, but it's the strongest one yet and can explain the results I have gotten with EVERY test breeding thus far)
Here is what he suggests:
Extensive research in both breeding the charcoal and through testing and encouraging others to test we have been able to identify the link between the non-agouti gene and the appearance of the charcoal (as all charcoals tested at the agouti locus have returned as Aa). There have been multiple theories Terra has created, with focus on a mutation at the agouti locus or the extension gene locus. But the more she and I have discussed it the more we see that perhaps it's much simpler than that...
Since the bengal breed originates from the hybridization of a separate species, I believe the real culprit to be the ALC. It's been scientifically proven that the non-agouti gene is an independent mutation within a species gene pool. Since the ALC does not have a non-agouti mutation, it's a safe bet to say that the ALC's agouti gene may not be completely dominant over the domestic non-agouti gene. To simplify, I believe the charcoal coloration to be the result of incomplete dominance of the ALC's agouti gene being paired to the domestic non-agouti gene. Since the charcoal coloration most commonly occurs in the filial (early generation) generations, this further verifies this theory. Over the years though, through selectively breeding the ALC's agouti gene was largely replaced with the domestic variant, or the non-agouti gene bred out of the lines ( perhaps because the standard demanded for highly roufesed cats, charcoal colors were not selected for, thus reducing the instances of ALC agouti in the breed *) . Every so often, like in Terra's case, a charcoal carrier (one who carries for the ALC agouti gene, but not the non-agouti) is produced that when paired to a non-agouti carrier... the end result is the charcoal. "
This is just a simplified explanation of this theory. Here is a another way to look at it. Imagine that the charcoal "gene" is the alc agouti and it is represented by Ač. Regular domestic agouti would be A. All charcoals would be Ača. Now you can take this and apply it to a prunett square and see what you would get out of each breeding (statistically).
All the test breedings done, according to this formula, now make sense. It makes sense that a non charcoal can be a carrier of the "charcoal gene" (the charcoal gene is Ač). For instance, My stud Native son is not charcoal and does not carry for non-agouti, yet when paired with a non-agouti he makes charcoals. So it can be said that Native Son is an (Ač A) (one charcoal gene and one non-charcoal, regular agouti gene). When I pair him to Wildstyle, who is not a charcoal, but carries for non-agouti (Aa) I get some charcoals. The reason why is because Native son passes on the Ač and Wildstyle passes on the a.
If this is a correct. That means that by pairing charcoal (Ača) X charcoal (Ača), we should be able to get charcoals (Ača), melanistics (aa), and non-charcoals (AčAč) . We can then take these cats, that are "pure" for the ALC agouti gene (AčAč) and breed them to a melanistic and we should get 100% charcoal kittens.
TICA's geneticist has already been contacted. After explaining our theories, she has agreed , and is looking into seeing what it'll take to compare agouti sequences. So we may have ourselves genetic proof to boot.
* added note by Terra
(according the the above theory, if a cat carries for charcoal, but is obviously not charcoal, it can't also carry for melanistic because that would automatically make the cat charcoal. So if you have a non-charcoal who has produced BOTH charcoal AND melanistic/smoke with another non-charcoal, we want to know about it! We will need phtographs of both parents and the kittens and if possible, DNA testing)
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| According to our theory, the above represents what you would get from a charcoal to charcoal breeding |
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| The above image represents what you would get from a non-charcoal carrying for charcoal bred to a non-charcoal carrying for melanistic/non-agouti |
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